Davis Cup is again nipping at our heels, and without the gobbledygook, let me jump right into my thoughts on this weekend’s first round showdowns and on the outlook for the remained of 2009.

In my mind, of all the ties this weekend the only one that’s really up for grabs is France at Czech Republic. The match will be played indoors on carpet in Ostrava which I think marginally helps the Czech Republic. But France, led by Gilles Simon and Jo Tsonga, should prevail over Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych on Sunday. Though this one could really go either way.

As for the rest of the ties, Argentina shouldn’t have much trouble defeating the Sjeng Shalken-less Netherlands. No Roger Federer means no problem for Andy Roddick and Co. who will blast through the Swiss. Croatia at Chile is a scary match, but Chile at Croatia means the home team survives. Russia should get through Romania, Sweden avoids the upset against Israel, Germany in a touchy one over visiting Austria and despite the “wind-out” Friday, I like Spain at home beating up on Serbia.

Regarding the last tie, as I mentioned before I hope we do get to see Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic play. And if it does come to pass, my guess is it would come in a rubber-clinching match for Spain who I figure at worst will be up 2-1 entering Monday. In that scenario it’s a near impossible task for Novak. We’ll see.

While Nadal will surely have his way with Janko Tipsarevic on an opening day now rescheduled for Saturday, Djokovic will have to reprise his Dubai win and again beat David Ferrer, this time only on clay in front of a hostile crowd. Certainly possible for the Serb, but regardless Spain’s going to advance in the end here.

After really a relatively bland first round of match-ups, things get much spicier in the quarterfinals. If my predictions come correct (recall I only got one wrong last year, that being the final!), in July we’ll see Argentina visiting France, USA traveling to Croatia, Sweden hosting Russia and Germany journeying to Spain.

From those pairings, I’ll take the French over the Argys. The home crowd benefited Argentina in their final run last year, but now it favors the French. Plus, France is so deep even with injuries, which they will have, there are just too strong with Richard Gasquet, my man Gael Monfils, etc. I also think the U.S. will be in big trouble against Croatia. Just a week or so after the grass of Wimbledon, the match could very well be played on slow red clay and with that I have to give the slight edge to the improving Marin Cilic and a healthy Mario Ancic. Both Croats are faster court players but better on clay than Roddick and James Blake.

In the bottom half, Russia should take care of the reeling Swedes and Spain may struggle but they’ll advance over a tricky Germany team.

So my September semifinals look like France at Croatia and Spain at Russia. Now it gets real tough. The French and Croats are pretty even regardless of surface which my guess will be indoor harcourts. But again, France is just too deep with Tsonga, Simon, Richard Gasquet and they even have a strong doubles pair. I like France.

In the second semifinals it’s hard to pick against Spain. The match would likely be on a fast indoor court with Dmitry Tursunov and perhaps Marat Safin playing in his farewell Davis Cup match – assuming he keeps his word and retires at the end of the year (frankly, I don’t buy that). But I still like Spain regardless of the surface, the situation and the site, especially if Fernando Verdasco continues his improved play.

That leaves my final as France hosting Spain for Davis Cup supremacy in December. Will it be a Spanish repeat or will France reach double digits in Davis Cup titles? Given it’s so far away and there’s just so much tennis yet to be played between now and then, it’s awfully hard to say. The tie will most surely depend on who’s healthy and who isn’t, and by that I mean Nadal.

If Rafa is busted up again come season end, his teammates like Lopez and Verdasco (the French will play this match on an ice rink) aren’t going to do to France what they did to Argentina. Simon and Tsonga are also in my mind tougher outs in crunch time situations than David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Potro were last year. And even if Rafa does play, remember Tsonga matches up nicely with him. So I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m picking France to win the ’09 Davis Cup. Let the fun begin.

I don’t understand DelPotro’s reasoning that he can’t play DC because he’s playing on hard-courts. Maybe he didn’t want to play due to his tiff with Nalby, but Nalby pulled due to an injury, which meant DelPotro could have played without any thought of Nalby.

If the US should win against Switzerland, I can’t see Croatia beating them in the next round. Except for Cilic, who is somewhat unpredictable, Croatia have just Ljubicic and Ancic. Ancic has not had a good run playing for close to two years — his wins are sporadic and Ljubicic is an easy out. I see the US winning that tie. And, should the US win v. Croatia, it will be a repeat performance of ’07 France v. US and that could go either way also. And, then, maybe a repeat performance, but this time in the finals of the US v. Spain. Miracles do happen.

lets face it, the most dominant countries in mens tennis right now are spain and france, and it will be a crime to tennis if any other nation wins the davis cup apart from those 2 countries!!!
nadal alone could take on entire nations all by himself and still win the davis cup!!!

look i think nadal is playing so well right now when he is fit, that i think its an insult to tennis if these other chumps beat him at this moment in time!! the guy is a stud and playing some of his best tennis, that he could just turn up after partying and driking till 6am and play a match at 10am and still whip most of the players in the atp!! the guy could maul most of these chumps being half drunk the way he is playing right now!! heck, the guy beat federer and made him cry like a new born baby playing on basically 1 leg and half fitness and still pretty much cruised to a grand slam title on his weakest surcace! now that is pimping! he could just party hard and hang with his girls without practice while the other blokes practice their guts out and still beat these guys pretty easily!! im stating facts, yes he gets smashed himself on occasions, but its very rare in a season!

the guy is just a stud, he is like serena williams, she could just turn up unfit and without holding a raquet for an year and enter a grand slam and win it without dropping a set like she did in the 2007 aussie open!! now that is what u call owning an entire tennis tour, she humilaited the rest of the players, same with nadal!!!

the thing is federer dont care about switzerland, he could care less about that country!! he never shows up for important matches, the guy has a new coach but he is into too much fashion and thinking he is GOAT his ego is way too big that he has lost interest!!! i mean the RF caps, RF shoes, the tiger woods texting, sampras hit ups and exos and texting, slam comparisons, and his own comparisons with mohammad ali, magic jordan,etc is getting a little bit too much!!! the guy is a tennis player and not being a circus conductor!!! he needs to concentrate on tennis and practice a bit more then he wont have to cry when he loses and embarrass his family!! he does not give a damn what happens to the swiss, i bet the guy doesnt even know who or where they are playing in the davis cup! he is probably designing his new RF sunglasses or RF underwear or RF clothing brand or RF perfumes!! and good for him, but patriotic guys like nadal, djokovic they play for their country unless a serious injury takes place!!! even guys like roddick and blake u have to appreciate, even though both of them a utterly useless tennis players, they front up for their country and try their guts out!!! even against nadal on clay, roddick tried his best, he knew he was going to get smashed, but he didnt care, he tried his best for his country, that is patriotic!!! win or lose u give ur life to ur country!!! djokovic an nadal are both ultra patriotic guys, u just have to listen to them in interviews or press conferences!!! federer just cares about himself and himself only!!! federer is a stunning player, but his unpatriotic behaviour towards his nation is not on!!!

swiss have their best chance ever to win a davis cup,while federer is playing but federer isnt interested in that, he is probably shopping for fat diamond rings for mirka while the swiss team gets mauled in america!!

It’s nice to see Safin playing DC; given that he’s reportedly retiring this year, he certainly could’ve opted out, but he’s in there fighting it out. I guess this being his last year could also be incentive to play as it is a “last chance’ kind of situation.

I see Spain and Serbia are still delayed; the article at the Davis Cup site says the following:

“Davis Cup rules allow for play on up to five days, so play on Monday or even Tuesday is theoretically possible. The rules also allow for a certain amount of flexibility of scheduling, so three matches on Saturday or Sunday are possible, although with Novak Djokovic due to play in three matches and daylight only until just after six o’clock in the evening, it seems unlikely that this will happen.”

Apparently the courts are fine but they’re worried about the safety of the spectators. I guess the wind is forecasted to ease as well.

John: Nalbandian has an explanation – he’s sick, but I wouldn’t go so far as to question his committment to Davis Cup. That man has been selfless and an ever-present for Argentina throughout his career barring injury. Del Potro, on the other hand, just doesn’t care. His excuse was that he didn’t want to interrupt his clay preparations by playing on hard courts, even though the French Open is 2 and 1/2 months away. Non-sense.

I just looked at the rules for Davis Cup and didn’t see anything in it about hawk-eye.

new world order Says:
nadal will bring about a new world order for spain! nadal is judge, jury and executioner!!!

Von Says:
The whole legal system is now wrapped up in one guy — Queen’s Counsel Nadal. LOL.

i love the whole QC Nadal idea. very funny though. New World Order cracks me up. i couldn’t resist laughing reading his comments [i mean the RF caps, RF shoes, the tiger woods texting]. NWO may be a tad too personal but he sure loves his tennis.

I love the French teams too. These guys are wonderful teammates as well – like, going to tournaments together, playing against each other, hugging and kissing each other after matches – etc. wow – such a loving team! I am dying to see them win the Davis Cups .. would love to see them all tough up, explode with their potentials and win some real big matches – esp Gasquet – This is more and more looking like an impossible dream to come true …. let’s keep fingers and toes all crossed till Nov 09!

New World order: love your insight into patriotism. Yes, we believe these players should deserve highest respect and appreciation for giving it all to fight for their country like Andy Roddick, Nadal,Novak, Nalbandian…
However, y

New World order: love your insight into patriotism. Yes, we believe these players should deserve highest respect and appreciation for giving it all to fight for their country like Andy Roddick, Nadal,Novak, Nalbandian…
In this real world, fans do have other ideas though – you might be well aware in an ongoing tennis poll now where over 5000 voted, RF is winning an overwhelmning growing double margin of 56% whereas Nadal’s support is at dwindling with 31% …. so much for patriotism, there you go!

Too bad Novak couldn’t win his tie; it was pretty much foregone that Rafa would win his. Oh well. At least they’re there and trying. Be nice if they could get the doubles…

The Czech / France tie is more competitive than I though it would be. Berdych & Step just got the break in the 4th and may take the doubles tie, so then it will be up to the French singles to win both.

New World Order: loved the line about “RF underwear”. For crying out, if you go to his web site, the vast majority of his fans are girl or grown women killing to be intimate with him. The RF underwear will be selling like hot cake.

You are exactly like. RF thinks he is a prince and feels a sense of entitlement. He is a really “soft” guy. He reminds me of Hingis, whose career came to screeching halt when the Williams sisters beating the crap out of softies Hingis. RF is having exactly the same feeling with Nadal.

they’re only allowed to do that for DC, any other time, then I have to question their motives. ha, ha.
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kofi ofori:

I agree with you new world order is funny.
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I’m happy to see that so many other top players are putting DC as a preference too. Kudos to the Americans for their dedicated devotion which has inspired the other players. Spain’s former captain, Sanchez-Vicario, stated that it was the cmaraderie of the US DC team that’s been his inspiration for DC and one which he tried to instill into his team. GO USA!!!!

In view of the situation between Serbia and Spain, I’ve gotta say that the US DC team did a heck of a job when they played against Spain. Hadn’t it been for the crowd which upset Roddick on his serve in the Roddick/Ferrer match, the Us would have won 2 matches, and who knows, it might have given Roddick more incentive.

Spain playing in their country on clay with their fans, is tough to beat. Any team that has to travel to Spain to play DC should be prepared to be ousted.

The US demolished Spain in ’07 in Salem-Winston. Nadal opted out of playing in that tie. I wonder why?

Was very surprised that the Ferrer/Djoko match was not more competitive – Ferrer did win their last meeting on clay but that was 2 yrs ago in MC & Djoko has improved since then. Tomorrow will not be pretty.

I didn’t see Novak’s match but apparently he played horribly against Ferrer, making a ton of errors. Here’s what Ferrer himself said with regards to the match:

“Ferrer was magnanimous enough to recognise that his opponent’s errors had significantly helped his cause. “Maybe the key to the match was in Novak’s mistakes,” the local Valenciana boy said. “He made many mistakes in the important moments. He didn’t play so good, and I took my chance.”

I expected Tipsy to get steamrolled by Rafa, but I thought Djoko’s match would’ve been a toss-up, and certainly tight. But it wasn’t his day.

And it’s pretty much guaranteed that Rafa will pulverize Novak or at least win – even if Novak takes a set.

Von you mention USA in Spain last year, and Andy – but Sam was also fantastic, taking a set off Rafa on clay if I am not mistaken. Something about the Sam vs. Rafa match up. He’s a tough one for Rafa.

I didn’t see the match either (it was on at 4am & didn’t feel like getting up that early to watch it). I think I was surprised because Djoko seemed realistic about their chances but pretty pumped up for DC – guess even players have bad days. Thanks for the presser notes. Now I’m glad I didn’t get up for it but want to try to see Rafa/Djoko tomorrow. Do you know what time it begins, Spain time of course.

tenisbebe, the davis cup site notes 11:00 hrs start time (or 10:00 GMT). I probably won’t watch as I am sure Novak will get beaten, and as much as I appreciate Rafa’s clay prowess, I don’t know if I feel like getting up to all that. If I happen to get up and it’s on, likely I won’t be able to resist, being the tennis junkie I am. The American matches have been much more conducive to my schedule.

If you do get up, enjoy, and send out a few positive vibes Novak’s way; he’ll need them. :-D

Thanks Jane – I may set my alarm & treat myself as I did a yoga class this a.m. & yard work the rest of the day – it was beautiful outside. Tomorrow it’s supposed to storm so a good day to watch tennis & then take a nap…….

Yes, Sam did win a set against Nadal in Spain on the red stuff, to boot, and if I’m not mistaken he did so in Monte Carlo (?) also. If it’s not Monte Carlo it was somewhere else, but Sam has done so twice. Give Sam some time and he’ll probably win a match against Nadal.
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tenisbebe:

Remember to set your clock forward by an hour. Spring forward, fall backward. That means you’ll be losing an hour’s sleep if you want to watch Nadal/Djoko play or beat each other to a pulp. Enjoy if you tune in.

To Jane : >Novak better think about getting in some serious practice on clay after the American H.C

Have you seen the match? Fist two sets were very close, result could go either way. For most of the part, Novak did have full control of the rallies, but he also made couple unforced errors (his favorite drop shots and service mistakes), that did major contribution to the final result. There were also some very questinable call outs (3 of them – where Novak did not challenge). I believe he is ready for a clay season, but to beat Nadal he will still need to improve his game, specialy in shot selection.
My major concern is IW where he needs to switch back to hard surface… For proper transition first two matches will be crucial.

I guess Gordon – you’re right. I only caught the end of the Rafa match so it didn’t look so good. And although I didn’t see the Ferrer match, from what I read he made a lot of errors in crucial moments. He does need to cut down on the errors.

All right :)
I am extremely happy with Novak’s game against Rafa (although it wasn’t a beauty of a match). First two sets were just more than close. There were couple of lucky shots for Rafa. In fact, I am pretty surprised how well Novak put up a fight.

Let see:

Novak was the last to arrive to Spain after winnig Dubai. He had only about two practice sessions on clay due to bad weather. The last time he played on clay was some 10 months ago. And we all know how hard it is to switch from one surface to something completely different.

On the other hand, there was Rafa, the udisputable Tzar of the clay, playing in front of his home crowd, having all the time in the world to practice on said surface. The result of 3:0 really doesn’t do justice. The match was much closer.
Line calls can be disputed but it’s something that happens all the time in Davis Cup. Besides, I am not sure you can challengde the call in DC.

All in all, it seems to me like Nole will be able to make some good results on clay this season.

Thanks Danica – your enthusiasm for Novak on clay is rubbing off!! Now I wish I could’ve seen the match. Let me know if you run into a replay or anything okay? Maybe I’ll search youtube in the next day or two.

“What an insult to ATP if Nadal ” could just party hard and hang with his girls without practice while the other blokes practice their guts out and still beat these guys pretty easily!! “

There was also a comparison to Serena Williams and her ’07 AO win in that statement. Nadal could NEVER do what Serena did. His game is built on 5 hours of practice per day. Serena went into the AO ’07, without any preparation and because she was unaccustomed to practicing/playing she developed horrible blisters, but she forged on and demolished every one of her opponents. If Nadal were to not practice for 3 months, he would be very, very beatable. Hence, that statement is way too ridiculous. His running game is what makes him win, take that away and he’s lost his major weapon.

Nadal hasn’t played on clay for months and he was no where near his best, and yet he murdered the world No. 3 Djokovic. It’s just ridiculous that Rafa Nadal is so good. But it’s great to watch, isn’t it?

You haven’t done so well this time around Sean. You picked France to win the Davis Cup, but they lost in the first round. A shock, yes I know. I totally expected Berdych to choke and couldn’t have seen Simon losing twice.

Props to you for having the courage to pick a winner based on hypothesis after hypothesis.

I posted on another thread that Nadal did not play very well and both he and Djoko made a lot of UEs. I don’t think Nadal murdered Djokovic though. Djoko got careless with the UEs and Nadal capitalized on those errors. Nadal was lethargic.

If a few months of not playing on clay does this to Nadal, considering clay is everywhere in his country, then I wonder how he’d fare if he were like some of the other players where clay courts are not found where they reside. Just a thought.

I didn’t see the match but the reports on daviscup website said Nadal was imperious on clay no matter when. I don’t doubt that he would have been lethargic, but even lethargic he is tough to beat on clay.

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Greatness of Nadal the difference between two quality teams

Greatness in sport is often hard to spot when it’s happening. It often takes a while for someone’s – or some team’s – achievement to be fully appreciated, but there’s no question that tennis is currently enjoying the peak years of one of the greatest clay court players ever, if not the greatest: Rafael Nadal.

That’s why this otherwise evenly balanced tie between two quality teams was always going to require Serbia to win the three rubbers that Nadal was not involved in. And so it was effectively decided the moment David Ferrer beat Novak Djokovic in the opening rubber. No-one quite wants to believe the tie is over after one match, but the reality was that, after that result, someone from the Serbian team had to beat Nadal on clay in Spain, and that’s currently the toughest ask in tennis.

Djokovic could pose a threat to Nadal at Roland Garros

Nadal still needed to deliver the goods, and in Djokovic he faced the player who pushed him further at Roland Garros last year than anyone else. Djokovic put in a much better performance than he had done against Ferrer, and there was enough in it to suggest that, if he can get enough dust on his socks during the European clay season, he might pose Nadal’s toughest challenge at the French Open this year.

But if Djokovic needed a couple of matches to get comfortable on the red stuff, Nadal showed that he is not just a great clay court player but can also switch to clay at the drop of a hat. Never mind that his last tournament was on indoor hard court in Rotterdam and his next is on the outdoor hard courts of Indian Wells in the California desert – he can play on clay at any time.

Nadal’s adaptability will be Germany’s problem

And that will be Germany’s problem in July when it travels to Spain for the quarterfinal. Nadal may well play the Wimbledon final five days before the tie, but it will still take something of a miracle – short of illness or injury – for him to lose a match. The Germans hosted Spain in Bremen last year and couldn’t make home advantage count. They now face the Spaniards on Spanish soil (almost certainly clay) with a team that must hope, like Serbia did, that it can make an impact on the other three rubbers.

Spain’s win over Serbia in glorious sunshine, and with tennis of a quality that increased as the weekend went on, will largely erase from the memory the damage to the 14,000-seater stadium on Thursday night that caused the whole of Friday’s play to be lost. Some will say the tie was lucky to have all its live matches decided in straight sets, but it was also very unlucky to catch winds of a record speed for this part of the Spanish coastline on the eve of the tie. It is the third time the Spanish Federation RFET has used this model of temporary stadium, and in a country passionate about its tennis and enjoying a golden era, it would be a shame if it feels it can’t use it again – after all, it allows top-class tennis to reach the parts of Spain that tour tennis just can’t reach.

nadal could destroy the entire american davis cup team all by himself! nadal comes off an injury and destroys serbia while djokovic has been winning dubai! in my book nadal is already the 2nd greatest tennis player ever after federer! and in the top 10 for greatest sportsPERSON in the history of sport! one thing i absolitely hate to the bone is when an american does well in tennis thesedays, they have no right to win another grand slam for about 20 years in the mens game! i could care less about womens because i hardly ever watch it and i dont care if hitlers wife won a slam! i thnk womens tennis should be banned because its a waste of time and money and a waste of space!
go nadal, and anyone but americans winning slams in the mens game will keep me very happy, cannot stand that country!

“nadal could destroy the entire american davis cup team all by himself!”

It’s too bad that “hate” is so potent in some people’s hearts. In fact IT’S AN AMOEBA that’s growing when someone would “hate” for an American to win anything in tennis.

As for Nadal beating the Americans in DC, why did he pull out “sick’ in ’07 at the very last minute? He would have been humiliated like the rest of his team on the hard courts of Winston Salem. In ’07 he was getting beaten by a lot of hard-court players.

Too bad for those who don’t want the Americans to win. They’ll keep on winning and the “haters” would just have to swallow it. Wow, there’s a cancer which falls under the umbrella of “hate” that’s growing inside so many. Too bad, it will kill you! Don’t choke when you gloat over the Americans’ losses. Many have choked on their gloat, so don’t become a statistic. Thankfully there is a God, He’s in charge and not the haters or else this world would be one hell of a mess and filled with the stench of hate just like these threads have become. Enjoy the misery the hate is causing.

FYI and to all who don’t know. Davis Cup was begun by a very noble AMERICAN who donated the Cup that has become a tradition in the sport of Tennis. Too bad, because you’re all going to have to hate DC also.

Nadal will always win on clay — it’s second nature to him and all of the Spaniards. It would be a crying shame if they didn’t excel on clay considering it’s right there in their backyards. Now that would indeed be a travesty wouldn’t it? I’m sick of this garbage. Many Nadal fans complain people don’t like for him to win, but are they even allowing themselves to be happy when he wins. It’s always the same old story. They degrade other players when he beats them, hence the backlash, no one cares and/or is happy when he wins. As we sow, so shall we reap.

What injury of any consequence sidelined Nadal in Rotterdam? A pulled muscle, which he himself stated was nothing to worry about? He should have beaten a whole army with the huge amount of time-off he’s taken for his many injuries beginning with Bercy in ’08.

Nadal was well rested for his matches against Serbia, plus he didn’t have to travel out of his country and had an advantage.

The clay season is just around the corner and there will be a ton of articles with respect to the same old plaintive cry “the clay season is too cram m ed”. however, he’ll con tin ue to play each and every one of the tournaments and then some — doub les too. and the beat goes on ….. and on ….. and on…..

“nadal could destroy the entire american davis cup team all by himself!”

It’s too bad that “hate” is so potent in some people’s hearts. In fact IT’S AN AMOEBA that’s growing when someone would “hate” for an American to win anything in tennis.

As for Nadal beating the Americans in DC, why did he pull out “sick’ in ’07 at the very last minute? He would have been humiliated like the rest of his team on the hard courts of Winston Salem. In ’07 he was getting beaten by a lot of hard-court players.

Too bad for those who don’t want the Americans to win. They’ll keep on winning and the “haters” would just have to swallow it. Wow, there’s a cancer which falls under the umbrella of “hate” that’s growing inside so many. Too bad, it will kill you! Don’t choke when you gloat over the Americans’ losses. Many have choked on their gloat, so don’t become a statistic. Thankfully there is a God, He’s in charge and not the haters or else this world would be one hell of a mess and filled with the stench of hate just like these threads have become. Enjoy the misery the hate is causing.

FYI and to all who don’t know. Davis Cup was begun by a very noble AMERICAN who donated the Cup that has become a tradition in the sport of Tennis. Too bad, because you’re all going to have to hate DC also.

Nadal will always win on clay — it’s second nature to him and all of the Spaniards. It would be a crying shame if they didn’t excel on clay considering it’s right there in their backyards. Now that would indeed be a travesty wouldn’t it? I’m sick of this garbage. Many Nadal fans complain people don’t like for him to win, but are they even allowing themselves to be happy when he wins. It’s always the same old story. They degrade other players when he beats them, hence the backlash, no one cares and/or is happy when he wins. As we sow, so shall we reap.

What injury of any consequence sidelined Nadal in Rotterdam? A pulled muscle, which he himself stated was nothing to worry about? He should have beaten a whole army with the huge amount of time-off he’s taken for his many injuries beginning with Bercy in ’08.

Nadal was well rested for his matches against Serbia, plus he didn’t have to travel out of his country and had an advantage.

The clay season is just around the corner and there will be a ton of articles with respect to the same old plaintive cry “the clay season is too cram m ed”. However, he’ll continue to play each and every one of the tournaments and then some — doubles too. and the beat goes on ….. and on ….. and on…..

NWO: you need to look in the history books. The 18c and 19c belonged to the old colonial powers-Spain, France, England. You should call yourself Old World Order. I personally think the 21c will belong to someone else.